Temp fix for controller / wheel / pedals deadzone & sensitivity

I'm seeing a lot of posts over several threads stating that their controller, be it wheel, pedal, or xbox 360 type doesn't have the correct sensitivity or deadzone settings, or even not functioning anywhere near how it should. I've answered a few of these threads, but thought it best to make one of my own so people can see it quickly and easily.

I've not plugged in my wheel & pedals yet, so I don't know what options you all have, but it seems whatever is present isn't enough to combat strange controller behaviour. You can get around this by editing a file to change it to your needs. The file is...

steamapps\common\F1 2015\actionmaps\action_map_preset_win.xml

...which can be edited in a text editor such as notepad, or the recommended Notepad++.

All you have to do is open this file and find your controller, which I'd do by searching (Control+F) the term "actionMapName" and repeat the "find next" function until you find your device. They're all clearly labelled, such as...

The benefit to making the adjustments directly within this file as opposed to while in the game itself is that you are not limited by the games interface, so you can have as much adjustment as you want.

From what I've heard so far, if say your pedals aren't responsive enough and only work as of half way pressed down then you'll need to increase the saturation for the accelerator and brake to say "2.0".

You may even need to use negative values (if the game can use them) like if there's too much deadzone and you want to decrease it then you can try "-.0.2" for example.

These fixes are a get around while Codemasters actually finish the game and provide working controller profiles, as the changes you make obviously won't be official and setup 100% accurately to your controller therefore probably not providing 100% of the intended feeling.

I'd also advise making a backup / copy of the "action_map_preset_win.xml" if you get things set up as you like as this file will almost certainly be updated and overwritten in a future patch by Codemasters.

If you happen to have success with your improvements then obviously feel free to state here which changes you made so that others can quickly fix their game too

I've just dug out my ultra high quality Logitech Driving Force EX Wheel and experimented with the saturations for the pedals.

I had "0" saturation within the games menus but the .xml file was set to "1.0" - so in an attempt to lessen the sensitivity to reduce wheel spin and lockup I changed the file to "2.0" saturations. I then had half the wheel spin and half chance of locking up, but all due to half the total accelerator and brake power (a McLaren shot past my Mercedes down the pit straight) - so the file editing get around doesn't work well for this "problem".

the problem is there is a massive deadzone of around 50-60% on the pedals before it does anything

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So what does the .xml state the deadzone values to be for the pedals. They may be set to 1.0 in which case you'll need to half the deadzone by changing it to 0.5. Even if it's already 0.0 you may be able to go into negative numbers(?)

I set the value to 1.2. You still have to release pressure as the brakes heat up to stop locking, but thats fine, that's how the brakes should be. But i can start with 100% pressure on the pedal now and lift off from there

I tried this with my T500 with F1 rim. First I changed the saturations to 2.0 and got the expected half accelerating power. Changed it to 0.5 and the pedal was then much more sensitive, but too sensitive for what I was after. Changed it back to 1.0 and now its still more sensitive than it was before... I double checked that I'd saved the change back to 1.0 and I had. I even deleted the file and replaced it with the one I'd copied from the original before making the first change. Still feels weird. Tried playing with Saturation in the game settings but that didn't help at all.
I've updated my wheel firmware and restarted the PC. Cant be bothered checking again now but hopefully its back to how it was before.

The actionmap files are control assignments that simply determine how you control the game and car - ffb data is elsewhere, but although I don't know how this is setup I'm uncertain, if a little doubtful that '14 config files can transfer (well) into '15. Also, the vast majority of F1 2015s files currently aren't accessible / modable and the actionmaps .xml is a "rare" exception.

I downloaded a patch today that looks to have solved the dead zone on the pedals when using a custom config for your pedals.
It's fixed the issue I was having, but I dont know how many others have found it to have helped.
RJ I havent got an answer for you sorry bud. Can you not even create a custom controller profile for them?

I play on PC using Xbox 360 controller and find acceleration (and sometimes braking) too sensitive, which causes wheel spin / car drifts all too often. I think this is a problem with the game and what it regards to be the correct grip levels, but I've just had a test around Suzuka in a Ferrari using the settings of...

Throttle Linearity=25
Brake Linearity=15

...using no assists at all, and find the car controls / behaves better in general. It'll still allow loss of traction somewhat too easily, but it's better than the default settings. If you try these values and find the acceleration to still be a problem then perhaps increase the linearity even more. I'd advise against using traction control as all it seems to do is completely reduce acceleration, not increase grip. If the brakes don't feel right then also increase the linearity to reduce lockups or even use the Anti-Lock Brakes option.

Suzuka (for me) is a great track to setting up your controller as it tests the car over lots of different conditions, and sector one in particular will help you find a good balance of acceleration and grip.

I play on PC using Xbox 360 controller and find acceleration (and sometimes braking) too sensitive, which causes wheel spin / car drifts all too often. I think this is a problem with the game and what it regards to be the correct grip levels, but I've just had a test around Suzuka in a Ferrari using the settings of...

Throttle Linearity=25
Brake Linearity=15

...using no assists at all, and find the car controls / behaves better in general. It'll still allow loss of traction somewhat too easily, but it's better than the default settings. If you try these values and find the acceleration to still be a problem then perhaps increase the linearity even more. I'd advise against using traction control as all it seems to do is completely reduce acceleration, not increase grip. If the brakes don't feel right then also increase the linearity to reduce lockups or even use the Anti-Lock Brakes option.

Suzuka (for me) is a great track to setting up your controller as it tests the car over lots of different conditions, and sector one in particular will help you find a good balance of acceleration and grip.

Also, perhaps try higher downforce settings on the car setup itself.

Click to expand...

Thanks ... I would like the car to accelerate and brake immediately ... then I do not know about you but in the fast corners slide out ... that uses advanced settings for the steering wheel pad xbox?

Yes, use the "advanced wheel settings" - these also change pad controls.

To make the car accelerate and brake suddenly, simply increase the linearity values as high as required - this will make the car slide very easily in corners (and probably straights too). If the effect is too sudden then lower the values until it feels the best it can.

As I said before though, you can slide the car too easily, even in faster corners, no matter what your settings are - it seems Codemasters thought that cars in the dry should feel like they're on a damp and greasy track, so sliding will happen regardless.